One day at a Time: 1992 Jeep Wrangler

A few years ago I was surfing craigslist, like I do very very often, just checking out some things here and there, you know, seeing whats on the market. I still had the BMW at that point and I don't think I wanted to get rid of it yet, I just wanted to see what kind of Jeeps were for sale. And I came across this little gem. It was a 1992 Wrangler with a 4.0L, 5 speed, 4 inch suspension lift, nearly brand new 33inch ProComp mud-terrain tires, nearly new aluminum rims, hard top, full steel doors, all for only $2800! I told Britney that I had to have it and I could turn a profit on it in no time. It was a steal! Its hard to find a lifted Jeep with a 6 cylinder, hard top, and steel doors for that kind of money. So Britney loaned me the money (she had some inheritance money from a great aunt) and I promised I could pay her back in full. It was an investment!

It did end up having a little bit of rust on the frame, actually I think it was a hole, right where the rear shackle was. So my dad fixed that in no time. Really, I think the only other problem with the Jeep were cosmetic issues: tore up drivers seat, "custom" spray can paint job, dings and dents everywhere, missing parts, no rear brakes(no biggie), that sort of stuff. I did end up doing some things to it while I had it though. I found a guy that was parting out his Jeep and I ended up buying a spare tire and mount, roll bar padding, and a couple others things that I can't remember.

Man was that a great little Jeep though. Brit loved it too, probably even more that I did. We were planning on selling it right away for a profit but ended up keeping it for like 6 or 8 months, it was just too fun to get rid of! We took it offroading a couple of times, loved going cruising out in the country with the top off, and I loved just puttin' around town in it. I drove it so much that I just parked the bimmer for weeks at a time.

Heres a funny story: I had just posted the Jeep up for sale, and maybe two days after I am driving through Lafayette, going to the mall or something, and its raining pretty good out. Im daydreaming, like I usually do, and everyone in front of me stops pretty hard, but not hard enough that would normally cause and accident. Well, unless you are in a lifted Jeep with mud tires and no rear brakes. Needless to say, I locked up the front brakes, slid a good distance, and smashed into the car in front of me. No one was hurt, but the car was smashed up pretty good. Heres what happened to the Jeep: one fog light fell off. That's it. No other damage. Maybe some scratches in the bumper, but its hard telling because they blended in with the other scratches. The car I hit ended up getting over $5000 in damage, which ultimately totaled the car. So I JB welded the foglight back together, and sold it a few weeks later. I ended up selling it for $4300, a good little $1600 profit. I ended up buying my DSLR with the money I made from it. We still reminisce about the white Jeep from time to time. I should have never sold it. Towards the end though, it was developing some transmission problem. The clutch would make a weird sound when disengaged. And the track bar broke off in the rear. That's not essential though.

This is from a few days after I bought it.